Meaning

The observation here is that self-respect is the foundation of the respect others extend to us. When a person has already abandoned their own sense of worth and dignity, they have removed the ground on which genuine esteem from others could stand. Mencius is not talking about pride or arrogance, but about the basic moral self-regard that keeps a person upright and accountable. Contempt from the outside world tends to follow, rather than cause, the collapse of self-respect within.

Context

In the Mencius, Book IV A is largely concerned with virtue, self-cultivation, and the relationship between internal moral character and external circumstances. Mencius consistently argued that people have more control over their standing than they often admit, because that standing begins in choices they make about how to conduct themselves. This quote is an expression of that personal responsibility: social diminishment is often a consequence of moral self-abandonment, not just bad luck or the cruelty of others.

About the author

Mencius, known in Chinese as Mengzi, lived during the fourth and third centuries BCE and is regarded as the most important Confucian thinker after Confucius himself. He traveled among the states of his era, advising rulers and debating other philosophers. His collected conversations and arguments were compiled into a text that bears his name and became one of the foundational works of Chinese classical thought.